Officials of Metropolitan Methodist Hospital, a campus of Methodist Hospital, announced plans for a $50 million expansion at a “skybreaking” ceremony.
San Antonio City Councilman Diego Bernal joined Greg Seiler, hospital chief executive officer, in ceremonies that included a traditional groundbreaking and a skybreaking with officials using sledgehammers to begin construction where the new structure will be connected to the existing building.
The Methodist expansion includes an 85,000-square-foot, seven story patient tower, which will house an intensive care unit (ICU) that can accommodate 48 ICU beds and that will house additional diagnostic and perioperative areas and a state-of-the art gastrointestinal lab. These efforts are part of a continued investment by Methodist Healthcare to meet the needs of the growing center city population.
The expansion is expected to be completed by early 2014. Earl Swensson Associates is project architecture with Skanska as project construction company.
“From the inception of the partnership between Methodist Healthcare Ministries and HCA, Methodist Healthcare has been dedicated and committed to meeting the health care needs of downtown San Antonio. The Metropolitan Methodist Hospital campus has evolved and expanded over the years with the addition of a free-standing women’s pavilion, a major emergency department renovation, two additional medical office buildings and now a major expansion that includes the building of an ICU tower, housing much needed critical care beds. Over the past six years, we have invested more than $105 million into Metropolitan Methodist Hospital and we envision more growth in the near future as the footprint of our center city expands,” said Seiler.
Metropolitan Methodist Hospital invested $50 million just six years ago with the addition of the Women’s Pavilion and an expanded emergency department, to better service the growing number of babies being delivered and the increased traffic in the emergency room. In June Metropolitan Methodist Gateway opened, a three-story 35,500 square foot medical office building which has expanded the hospital campus footprint to Interstate 35.
Hospital administrators and board members are now considering the implications of the recent Christus Santa Rosa announcement to stop offering adult services at its downtown facility and how it may extend growth plans for Metropolitan Methodist Hospital.
Metropolitan Methodist Hospital, a campus of Methodist Hospital, is a 330-bed hospital that provides a complete range of health care services to residents of downtown San Antonio and the surrounding area, including Alamo Heights, Terrell Hills and Olmos Park. The facility is accredited by the Joint Commission in stroke care and is designated as an accredited Chest Pain Center. It is the only hospital in San Antonio with a Breast Center that staffs a certified breast patient navigator by the National Consortium of Breast Centers. The hospital campus includes a free standing women’s pavilion, the only free standing facility in downtown San Antonio completely dedicated to the health of women and their newborn babies. The hospital just expanded its campus by adding the new Metropolitan Methodist Gateway medical office building and is will break ground soon on a $50 million expansion, to include a multi-story critical care tower and operating rooms.